Croatia vs. Serbia live stream & TV schedule (Photo : Getty Images)
Croatia and Serbia will rekindle their rivalry in a do-or-die scenario on Wednesday. The quarterfinal round of Olympic men's basketball in Rio got a lot more interesting as it will feature a match between two of Europe's fiercest rivals.
What's on the line?
Croatia: After winning their first two matches against Spain and Brazil, Croatia dropped their next two assignments at the hands of Argentina and Nigeria. With their further participation in the Olympic Games on the line, Croatia bounced back big time and defeated Lithuania in the final game of the preliminaries.
For Bojan Bogdanovic, Dario Saric and the rest of the Croatian basketball team, a quarterfinal win over Serbia will put them in the semifinal final round of the Olympic men's basketball game for the first time since Hall of Famer Drazen Petrovic carried the nation to a silver medal finish at the Barcelona Olympics. It's been 24 years since that golden moment for Croatian basketball and they would love to bring the glory back to their homeland at the expense of their rival.
Serbia: It's also the same narrative going on for Serbia, formerly known as the mighty Yugoslavia. It's been 20 years ago since Vlade Divac and company lost to Dream II in the men's basketball final at the Atlanta Olympics. Since then, Serbia has never stepped foot on the podium again.
After failing to quality into the Beijing and London Games, the Serbian are back with a grand mission. They have already proven capable of pulling off great things when they gave Team USA a run for their money in the group stages, losing by only three to the gold medal favorite 94-91.
Projected Starting Lineup & Prediction:
Croatia: Miro Bilan / Dario Šaric / Mario Hezonja / Bojan Bogdanovic / Roko Ukic
Key Players to Watch: Bogdanovic is averaging 24.8 points per game in this tournament. He's the man to watch as far as the offense is concerned, but Dario Saric might turn out to be the x-factor for Croatia in this match because of his rebounding and defensive presence.
Serbia: Miroslav Raduljica / Milan Mačvan / Nikola Kalinic / Bogdan Bogdanovic / Milos Teodosic
Key Players to Watch: Raduljica is the top scorer for Serbia at 17.6 points per game, but this team has plenty of firepower to offer. Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic could erupt anytime while Teodosic will certainly provide stability in the backcourt. Then there's Bogdan Bogdanovic, who can be the difference maker in the match.
Prediction: In arguably the most competitive game among the four quarterfinal match-ups in Rio, Croatia vs. Serbia is expected to go down the wire. Both are good at capitalizing mistake of the opposing teams and they do have great players in the frontline and backcourt. But in the end, I can see Serbia eking out a hard-earned victory at Carioca Arena.
